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 Traveller's Tales: Things to do in Vietnam
Learn about leisure and recreation in Vietnam. You may read about their travel activities and adventures. Find out their travel tips and guides and discover fun things to do in Vietnam.Also, you might want to read our
Central Vietnam city guide,
Halong Bay city guide,
Hanoi city guide,
Ho Chi Minh city guide,
Phan Thiet city guide,
and Hoi An city guide.
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| G Siew kek |
28 July 2005 |
Stayed at Lucky Star Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Halong bay is a must to go in Hanoi. Those not prepared to climb and sun under the hot sun, please do not go to Perfume Pagoda. No safety measures for the sampan ride to the Perfume Pagoda. Plenty of local tour agencies. No problem to move around.
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| D Rea |
06 May 2005 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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We stayed at the DeSyloia upon arriving in Hanoi, between trips to Halong Bay and Sa Pa, and prior to our departure from the country. Both Halong Bay and Sa Pa are highly recommended, though we caution travelers that the many tour operators based in Hanoi don't always deliver on their promised services. For example, the tour operator we chose, Sinh Travel, neglected to inform us that our Halong Bay tour would entail switching boats -- at 5 am! Also beware of 'helpers' at the Hanoi train station who will try to rip you off blind. Otherwise, our stay in Vietnam was most pleasant and the food was generally lovely -- we recommend the Nam Phuong Restaurant (close to the DeSyloia) in particular.
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| S Chee |
10 April 2005 |
Stayed at Bong Sen Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Buy a taxi coupon from the airport, hotels all charge too much...more than double. USD4-5 will get you into the heart of town while the hotels charge anything from USD12-22 for pick up service. Taxis are generally reliable but make sure they use the meter. Vietnamese food, especially the noodles (pho) are great and there are now chains eg Pho24 just around the corner from this hotel, that offer good fare at prices slightly above local stores but they are clean and hygienic.
The highlight was a local restaurant within about 300m of the Reunification Palace that served fabulous local food at very reasonable prices. It is a restaurant housed in an old bungalow with seating both inside and al fresco with about 20 stalls lining the sides. Ask the hotel staff about the LOCAL restaurants for local fare and they will helpfully recommend them. We only took a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels which are well worth a visit. The firing range with charges of USD 1 per bullet is cheap compared to Phuket in Thailand which charges USD2 per bullet.The Russian Market at Saigon Sq and the BinTanh Market are worth exploring. There are bargains to be had for clothing, back packs and practically everything else. Good quality coffee can be bought at the latter. Be VERY careful when crossing roads, the motorbikes are everywhere and they don't necessary obey traffic lights!!
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| M Pinto |
10 April 2005 |
Stayed at De Syloia Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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A must-do is the tour to Halong Bay with Handspan Travel - the 3 days/2 nights is recommended. We managed only 1 night as the above was fully booked. They have the best boat on the Bay called the Dragon's Pearl and the 8-course meals they served on board were amazing.
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| R Isaksen |
04 April 2005 |
Stayed at Renaissance Riverside Hotel Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Saigon is a vibrant city, and Vietnam counrtyside is beautiful and interesting. It's a place to visit before it becomes too "touristy". Lots of people watching. Streets are safe, and fun to walk. Prices, even in the big hotels are still below average. Ann's Tours was exceptional. My wife is in a wheelchair, they arranged tours even on the Mekong Delta small boats and the Cu chi tunnels, having extra help along the way. The guide and driver were very helpful.
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| M Gerard (2nd call) |
30 March 2005 |
Stayed at Kimdo Royal City Hotel - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.
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Stayed at the Kimdo Hotel and it is literally next door to the TAX dept store. Not only did we use the supermarket for food, actually bought T-shirts, ao dai's, robes,etc in the supermarket.!!! There is a fountain in front of the Opera and we would go there in the evening...when families were there with their children! Great fun. Our most memorable day was the one when we went to DAM SEN PARK, District 11..we took a taxi and spent a Sunday with all the locals! We were the only caucasians there. We got stared at, bowed to, asked to be in photos with them,etc. For one whole day, there was not a vendor in sight who wanted us to buy anything! Another great place to mingle with the locals: Quan An Ngon restaurant at 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia...decent food and VERY few tourists. Had lunch one day at Vietnam House and I'd highly recommend it too. Our biggest disappointment in all of Vietnam was our 2 day Mekong delta trip. We signed on with Delta Adventures (highly recommended from Lonely Planet AND people we met along the way). Do not think they stuck to the itinerary. It was a very lackluster two days. Forgot to mention that although it IS a long day, thought the Cao Dai Temple was VERY impressive and worthwhile.
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| O Patrick |
27 March 2005 |
Stayed at Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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Hanoi is fantastic I think it is what most people would say Asian cities were 30 years ago. It is not overdeveloped it has beautiful areas and the people have generally not been affected by the onslaught of westerners and tourism. I strongly recommend the tour guide agency "I love Vietnam" located on Buoi St. Ha noi, It has a cafe at street level (great food) and agency upstairs, it is owned by vietnamese & europeon partner with a view to social and ecological tourism. You must make the trip to The Perfume Pagoda, Do not go on a weekend it is very busy. The food tour of Ha noi is also a great way to gain understanding of the culture. We will be returning in 6 months to undertake a longer tour to the mountains and central vietnam with "I love Vietnam" travel agency.
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| B Kilmer |
17 March 2005 |
Stayed at Lucky Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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I did the 3day/2night Halong Bay trip with Fansipan/Vega travels as recommended in Lonely Planet. They really did seem to be the best for good value when I compared notes with other travelers. Take a couple of cyclo trips around the old quarter - all the tourists do it and there's a reason why - it's the perfect pace to soak in the atmosphere. I'm not much of a shopper, but the neatest thing I found were custom-made rubber stamps. You can get all different beautiful designs and customized with a name, too, if you like. If you can manage getting up early one day, it's well worth walking around Ho Kiem lake at 6:00 or 6:30. It's packed with Hanoians doing their morning exercise.
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| L Fletcher |
19 February 2005 |
Stayed at Dong An Beach Hotel - Hoi An, Vietnam.
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Hoi An is a very beautiful town on both the river and close to the beach. A great place to get a tailored made suit as 3 pieces costs approximately US$60 (I went to BiBi Silk in town). The cooking classes out of Hai's Cafe were very useful and the Red Bridge Restaurant is located in a beautiful setting and is very reasonably priced.
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| H Pilling |
03 February 2005 |
Stayed at Green Park Hotel - Hanoi, Vietnam.
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If you take the "group" Dragon boat tour in Hue for 25.000VND (which is really more fun because you get to meet a lot of interesting people from all over) what they don't tell you is at all but one of the 5 historic sites they take you to, you have to buy a ticket to get in for 55.000VND, plus at 2 of the sites you have to hire a motor bike to take you there. Most of my fellow tourists felt a little cheated by all the hidden costs...just remember, you get what you pay for!
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